First, you need to understand that I have no choice. Well, of course, I do. We all do.

But, tonight’s not-choice is about television-viewing options, and in that respect, I have limited choice. I can’t even change the channel without leaving the couch (!) (remember those days?!). In fact, when I do need to change the channel, I am required to shift (ever-so-slightly) the indoor antenna, which is adjusted by altering the height and position of said antenna by adjusting the bungee cord on which said antenna is hung and which said bungee cord hangs from a ceiling-mounted plant hook.

Madoff: (Night two of) a two-night, four-hour, mini-series “event” about Bernie Madoff and his spectacular fall from power, status, wealth and life.

And/Or… (it ended up being “and” which proved to be a challenge for an OCD (and perhaps, sometimes ADD) person such as myself.)

You, Me & the Apocalypse: A new (comedy!) series about the end of the world.

***

Interesting, overlapping, and intersecting results, from my personal perspective… (and based upon the producers’ own perspectives, which of course must be taken into perspective, but there is always more than one perspective on everything, isn’t that right?)

***

Madoff: A story about ego and/or greed? No I don’t think so, not really, even though we’re talking $50 billion (more or less, depending on your sources). “Nobody wants the magic trick explained.”

In my opinion: Better to have not ever had it than to have had it and lost it, in this case anyway. (I mean that for Bernie, as well as his victims, and I bet he would agree.) I will take my poverty. Lesson learned.

During a commercial break, I wonder: Could it perhaps be my mission in life to tell Bernie’s story from his perspective, from another perspective? No doubt it’s been told [and interpreted] 50 billion ($) different ways, but never by me.

Or maybe I could interview and write about Bernie’s victims, or homeless people (Bernie couldn’t touch them!), or displaced veterans, and tell their stories in exchange for a meal or a job or a purpose. That could change lives, couldn’t it? (But omg, I would have to actually engage with people…there’s that trust thing…) It’s a thought (one of many) that has percolated in my writer’s idea-place since my days as an artist/student in downtown Milwaukee. Hmm…maybe my story is in there, somewhere?

There is a lot of angst in (this TV version of) Bernie’s story. Family ties, loyalty, love, marriage, lust, cancer, life, death, and trust. Broken trust. If you ask me, that’s the biggest one, trust. But I believe – because I believe in humankind – that Bernie started out with good intentions (not withstanding this story’s version of his closing statement [left out here – spoiler alert!]). Then he got caught up in, side-tracked by, and tangled within the machine, and then became “exposed” in and by the media.

I have similar ideas about police officers and doctors and lawyers and, sometimes even, politicians. Even the media. Even journalists and writers. Yeah, writers.

All of those unsung heroes who deal with humanity and who start out by wanting to help others, save the world, tell someone’s story, tell the truth. People who – because they are people (God’s children) – begin with the very best of intentions. People who get trapped and ensnared in the bureaucracy, the red tape, the bullshit of the system, sometimes when they’re not even looking (perhaps it sneaks up on them while they’re paying attention to the other things that really matter, like life). It’s the “jaded-effect.” And then they caught in the machine.

And then the end comes. (Define “end” anyway that suits your particular situation. We all have a worse-case scenario, don’t we?) Reality catches up with you while you’re looking the other way. You get caught up in delusional expectations.

It can be spectacular, can’t it? While you’re looking the other way. Or waiting, for the now to become spectacular.

Bernie’s two-night-episode TV story is done, for now, on this channel anyway. But, hey, they just now announced a follow-up one-hour story, “Where is Bernie Now? Stories from His Victims.” I don’t think I can watch this…or should I? Maybe, if I want the real story, I will do my diligent research.

I’m not sure that’s on my list of priorities. What are my priorities, anyway?

Oh, yeah. The other TV story…

Now, let’s pretend it’s the end of the world – for all of us – not just Bernie Madoff.

You, Me & the Apocalypse:

I’ve always been weirdly attracted to end-of-the-world-stories, though I haven’t watched one in years. They tend to give me nightmares and, as a rule, I tend to not have nightmares. Especially when I can choose.

To tell the truth, I’ve only seen 1-1/2 episodes (out of 2) of this new show. (During this most recent ½ episode, I was channel-surfing while watching Bernie’s demise. Do you see how deprived I am? Do you see how altered my perspective is of the “big, bad world?”)

“Y, M & the A” is intense, and intensely-funny. I can only say, so far, that I truly expect it to ultimately be more uplifting than the BM story. I find that…hmm, well…intriguing, exciting and inspiring. And maybe a bit disturbing. Hopefully my antenna (!?) will stay intact and I will be able to finish (?!) the series at some later date...because for tonight it’s over, because for tonight, I chose Bernie Madoff over the end of the world, as the way to end my day.

All that’s left now is the news. The “real” news.

I choose not.

P.S. Everything I’ve written needs to be taken with a grain of salt, or pee. With mere seconds available between channel-changing, while hoping for commercial-airing-alignment between the two channels, and with no recording or pausing technical abilities at hand, I may have missed certain key scenes in both shows. I may never know what I missed, thus making true opinionation impossible, unless someday I’m rich enough to afford on-demand TV (or at least a DVR) and then only if the shows are still available for streaming.